Fuel Additives Effectively Improving Fuel Economy

ABSTRACT

Enhanced fuel combustion within the combustion chamber of internal combustion engines which results in improved fuel economy is obtained by adding fuel additives to the gasoline or diesel. Consequently, the fuel additives reduce pollution of hydrocarbon in environment. The fuel additives are combination of aliphatic oxygenates, monocyclic aromatic compound, and petroleum ether. The aliphatic oxygenates may be methanol, acetone, or a mixture of methanol and acetone. The monocyclic aromatic compounds may be toluene, xylene, or a mixture of toluene and xylene. This invention further relates to the method that manufactures the fuel additives.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to fuel additives for adding to the gasoline or diesel for the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engines. More specifically, it relates to fuel additives that enhance fuel combustion within the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine and subsequently improve fuel economy. Consequently, the fuel additives reduce pollution of hydrocarbon in environment. This invention further relates to the method that manufactures the fuel additives.

2. Description of Related Art

Combustion of the fuel (normally a fossil fuel) in the engine combustion chamber occurs with an oxidizer (usually air). The expansion of the high temperature and pressure resultant gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies driving force to component of the engine, such as the pistons by moving it over a distance, generates useful mechanical energy. Modern automobiles use internal combustion type engines. Volatile gasoline or diesel introduced to the combustion chamber by the fuel injector with computer controlled volume, mixing with air introduced through another channel and inlet, was ignited at computer controlled interval, combust in the chamber to generate such energy for the engine to run in its designed way.

It has been known for long time that the fuel such as gasoline or diesel is usually not completely combusted in the engine combustion chamber during a very short period of stay in the chamber by design; leftover of the fuel is, therefore, pushed out of the combustion chamber after each cycle of piston strokes, causing wasting of fuel and pollution in emissions.

The use of a fuel additive in an internal combustion engine to improve combustion is well-known in the art. Various solutions to the need for new fuel additives have been proposed. One solution that has been used is to increase the oxygen content of the fuels, for example by adding ethanol or ether or ketone. This approach is widely studied and disclosed in many U.S. patents (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,482,352; 5,266,082; 5,688,295, 5,931,977; 7,699,900 B2) and U.S. PreGrant (e.g. No. 2008/0295398 A1). Peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide or ketone peroxide as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,586 or 4,482,352 are also proposed but they are not stable. Metal oxides are also used as ingredients in fuel additives to improve efficiency as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,082. Oxygenated natural aromatic compound was also used as an ingredient in the fuel additives as disclosed by U.S. PreGrant No. 2008/0104884 A1. Fuel additives made of fuel oil and olive oil are disclosed in U.S. PreGrant No. 2009/0313888 A1.

More specifically by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,295 disclosed a fuel additive for internal combustion engines containing a mixture of alcohol, ketone and ether, aliphatic and silicone compound, toluene, and mineral spirits. U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,742 disclosed a fuel additive containing a mixture of toluene, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, and mineral oil as base ingredients mixed with a mixture having acetone, methanol, toluene, and xylene. However, neither patent disclosed fuel composition containing petroleum ether combined with the same other ingredients as disclosed in the present invention. Although there are known fuel additives in the art, there is still a need for fuel additives that can increase the efficiency of fuel combustion for the internal combustion engines, and thus, increase the fuel economy and reduce the pollution of the environment. The fuel additives disclosed in the present invention can increase the fuel economy by 10% to 30%.

The concept of this invention is to completely combust fuel, such as gasoline or diesel, within the combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine in order to improve fuel economy, that in turn to reduce pollution of hydrocarbon in environment. It was found that when the fuel such as gasoline is injected into the combustion chamber, its existing form before combustion is aerosol. The key to complete combustion is that oxidizer is introduced and distributed evenly in the body of gasoline aerosols. When air is introduced into the combustion chamber of the automobile engine, it is generally moved, during the very short period of time prior to combustion, around the external reachable boundary of the gasoline aerosol within the combustion chamber, it, therefore, causes incomplete combustion of gasoline before the resulting gases are pushed out of the chamber. This is the major reason that causes wasting of the fuel and hydrocarbon pollution to the environment.

In this invention, oxidizers are introduced in the fuel before the fuel is injected into the combustion chamber. Fuel additives of this invention are made of organic solvents of smaller molecules than the main components of gasoline. Such components as methanol or acetone, when mixed with the fuel, dissolve in the liquid gasoline in the gasoline tank and can play a role that improves combustion of gasoline in the combustion chamber. First, these additive components interact with molecules of gasoline in the fuel tank and reduce the surface and interfacial tensions of gasoline components so the gasoline can more easily evaporate in the combustion chamber, in other words, there would be less liquid droplets of gasoline formed in the combustion chamber after gasoline is injected and the tightness of the molecules of the gaseous gasoline components in the form of aerosol is reduced that could allow more air to enter the central body of the aerosols to enhance the combustion. In addition, oxygen-containing solvents such as methanol, when introduced in gasoline, can also act as oxidizers to improve combustion of gasoline. The mechanisms mentioned above were proved to make the fuel such as gasoline or diesel combust more completely in the engine combustion chamber, therefore, improve the fuel economy, and as a result, reduce the pollution from the emission of engine operation. It was noticed, however, if the amount of these additives was increased in certain range, the improvement of the fuel economy could be reduced or eliminated due to further interaction between the molecules of additive components and gasoline components.

Solvents of boiling point lower than fuel, such as petroleum ether, can be added to the additive to enhance the evaporation of the fuel, which can also improve the combustion of fuel. These solvents not only help improve the fuel economy (MPG improvement), but improve start-up of engine and empower the engine. This improvement can be especially experienced when the additives were used in an old vehicle where the operational efficiency of the engine is relatively low. The start-up (ignition) of the vehicle engine can be significantly improved when in the cold weather conditions when start-up was a problem, and in general, the driver of the vehicle can feel the engine is more powerful when the additives with low boiling point solvents, such as petroleum ether, are used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to fuel additive compositions and methods to manufacture the fuel additive in order to improve combustion in an internal combustion engine and subsequently improve fuel economy. The ingredients for the fuel additive are: 1) aliphatic oxygenates; 2) monocyclic aromatic compound; and 3) petroleum ether. The preferred percentages of the respective ingredients by volume of the fuel additive are: 1) about 30% to 100% aliphatic oxygenates; 2) up to 50% monocyclic aromatic compound; and 3) up to 50% petroleum ether. The aliphatic oxygenates may be methanol, acetone, or a combination of methanol and acetone. The monocyclic aromatic compounds may be toluene, xylene or a combination of toluene and xylene. The aliphatic oxygenates may include other alcohols with carbon number from 2 to 5 or ketones with carbon number from 4 to 5 or mixture thereof.

Compositions and the volume used in vehicles should be adjusted per vehicle make and model and engine size. In general, for the vehicle with about 18 gal of gasoline tank, maximum 300 ml of the additive can be used. In some case, when xylene or toluene and petroleum ether are not used, only methanol or acetone might work but not as effectively as with other components. The additives described above can generally improve the fuel economy (i.e. mileage of vehicles) by 10% to 30% depending on the model, make and age of the vehicle.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should recognize that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other compositions for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other compositions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, and the appended claim.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Fuel additives composited in the above described formula have been used in various vehicles in different manufacturing years and models to test the fuel economy. Following are some examples of the tests in similar road conditions between no additive added and additive added in each example, and the testing results:

Example 1

300 ml of the fuel additive made of ⅓ of methanol, ⅓ of xylene and ⅓ of petroleum ether was poured into to the gasoline tank filled up with 17.8 gallon of gasoline in a 6 cylinders sport utility vehicle of Year 2000 Toyota 4Runner. The mileage per gallon (MPG) of gasoline showed 24% improvement compared to the test on the same car using the same grade of gasoline with no additive added.

Example 2

The fuel additive made of 100 ml of acetone, 25 ml of methanol and 25 ml of petroleum ether was added to the gasoline tank of a Year 2010 Toyota Camry V6 car filled up with gasoline. The testing result showed 12% improvement on MPG compared to the test on the same car using the same grade of gasoline with no additive added.

Example 3

The fuel additive made of 150 ml of acetone and 150 ml of petroleum ether was added to the gasoline tank of a Year 2001 Toyota Camry 4 cylinders car filled up with gasoline. The testing result showed fuel economy improvement equivalent to 28.1% saving of gasoline compared to no additive added test using the same grade of gasoline.

Example 4

The fuel additive made of 100 ml of methanol only was added into the gasoline tank of a Year 2000 Toyota 4Runner vehicle that was filled up with gasoline. The test showed fuel economy improvement equivalent to 15% saving of gasoline compared to no additive added test using the same grade of gasoline.

Example 5

The fuel additive made of 100 ml of acetone and 100 ml of toluene was added to the gasoline tank of a Year 2000 Toyota 4Runner vehicle filled up gasoline. The test result showed 26.43% improvement on gasoline economy compared to no additive added test using the same grade of gasoline.

Example 6

The fuel additive made of 100 ml of acetone, 100 ml of xylene and 50 ml of petroleum ether was added to the gasoline tank of a Year 2006 Lexus ES330 V6 car filled up with gasoline. The test showed the gasoline economy was improved by 10% compared to no additive added test using the same grade of gasoline.

The above examples are summarized in the following table to clearly demonstrate that the composition of fuel additive and the ratio between the fuel additive and hydrocarbon fuel (e.g. gasoline) as well as the efficiency improvement of the vehicles' performance.

Experiment Methanol Toluene or #:Year or Acetone Xylene Petoleum ether and model (volume and (volume and (volume and Efficiency of car percentage^(a)) percentage^(a)) percentage^(a)) Gasoline Ratio^(b) Improvement^(c) 1:2000 100 ml of 100 ml of 100 ml of 17.8 300:67000 24% Toyota methanol xylene petroleum gallons = (=4.5:1000) 4Runner (33.3%) (33.3%) ether (33.3%) ~67 liters 2:2010 100 ml of 0 ml 25 ml of 18.5 150:70000 12% Toyota acetone petroleum gallons = (=2.1:1000) Camry (66%) plus ether (17%) ~70 liters V6 25 ml of methanol (17%) 3:2001 150 ml of 0 ml 150 ml of 18.5 300:70000 28% Toyota acetone petroleum gallons = (=4.3:1000) (Camry) (50%) ether (50%) ~70 liters 4 cylinders 4:2000 100 ml of 0 ml 0 ml 17.8 100:67000 15% Toyota methanol gallons = (=1.5:1000) 4Runner (100%) ~67 liters 5:2000 100 ml of 100 ml of 0 ml 17.8 200:67000 26% Toyota acetone toluene gallons = (=3.0:1000) 4Runner (50%) (50%) ~67 liters 6:2006 100 ml of 100 ml of 50 ml of 18.5 250:70000 10% Lexus acetone (40%) xylene (40%) petroleum gallons = (=3.6:1000) ES330 V6 ether (20%) ~70 liters ^(a)Percentage is the volume of the ingredient relative to the total volume of the fuel additive. ^(b)Ratio is the total volume of the fuel additive relative to the volume of gasoline ^(c)Efficiency improvement is the saving of mileage per gallon (MPG) compared to no fuel additive added

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled. 

1. A fuel additive for use in internal combustion engines comprising: (a) about 30% to 100% by volume of aliphatic oxygenates; (b) about 0% to 50% by volume of monocyclic aromatic; and (c) about 0% to 50% by volume of petroleum ether.
 2. A fuel additive for use in internal combustion engines comprising: (a) about 30% to 100% by volume of aliphatic oxygenates selected from the group consisting of methanol, acetone, or mixture thereof; (b) about 0% to 50% by volume of monocyclic aromatic compounds selected from the group consisting of toluene, xylene, or mixture thereof; and (c) about 0% to 50% by volume of petroleum ether.
 3. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates is methanol or acetone or mixture thereof.
 4. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said monocyclic aromatic compounds is toluene or xylene or mixture thereof.
 5. The fuel additive in claim 1, wherein said aliphatic oxygenates is about 33.3% by volume of methanol, said monocyclic aromatic is about 33.3% by volume of xylene and petroleum ether is about 33.3% by volume.
 6. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates include about 17% by volume of methanol and about 67% by volume of acetone, and petroleum ether is about 17% by volume.
 7. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates is about 50% by volume of acetone and petroleum ether is about 50% by volume.
 8. The fuel additive in claimed 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates is about 100% by volume of methanol.
 9. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates is about 50% by volume of acetone and said monocyclic aromatic compound is about 50% by volume of toluene.
 10. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates is about 40% by volume of acetone, said monocyclic aromatic compound is about 40% by volume of xylene, and petroleum ether is about 20% by volume.
 11. A method for manufacturing said fuel additive in claim 1 comprising the steps of: (a) measuring out aliphatic oxygenates in an amount within the range described in claim 1 at room temperature; (b) measuring out monocyclic aromatic compounds in an amount within the range described in claim 1 at room temperature and transferring to (a); and (c) measuring out petroleum ether in an amount within the range described in claim 1 at room temperature and transferring to (a).
 12. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said fuel additive is added to gasoline in a ratio not more than 4.5 to
 1000. 13. The fuel additive in claim 1 wherein said aliphatic oxygenates may be any alcohol with carbon number from 2 to 5 or ketone with carbon number from 4 to 5 or mixture thereof.
 14. The fuel additives in claim 2, wherein methanol is about 33.3% by volume, xylene is about 33.3% by volume, and petroleum ether is about 33.3% by volume.
 15. The fuel additive in claim 2 wherein methanol is about 17% by volume, acetone is about 67% by volume, and petroleum ether is about 17% by volume.
 16. The fuel additive in claim 2 wherein acetone is about 50% by volume and petroleum ether is about 50% by volume.
 17. The fuel additive in claimed 2 wherein methanol is about 100% by volume.
 18. The fuel additive in claim 2 wherein acetone is about 50% by volume and toluene is about 50% by volume.
 19. The fuel additive in claim 2 wherein acetone is about 40% by volume, xylene is about 40% by volume, and petroleum ether is about 20% by volume. 